Shufro Rose & Co. LLC Has $1.62 Million Stock Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Shufro Rose & Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 42,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $1,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SYF. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 45.4% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 108,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,142,000 after acquiring an additional 33,867 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 58.1% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 280,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,646,000 after acquiring an additional 103,222 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 4.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,707,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $113,336,000 after acquiring an additional 145,466 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 51.1% in the third quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 46,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,416,000 after acquiring an additional 15,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 2.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,054,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,812,000 after acquiring an additional 50,495 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $264,584.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 152,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,534,503.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $264,584.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 152,604 shares in the company, valued at $6,534,503.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total value of $5,557,556.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 660,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,246,164.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,158 shares of company stock valued at $6,106,106 over the last ninety days. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:SYF traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $44.67. The stock had a trading volume of 3,698,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,315,406. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.91. Synchrony Financial has a 12-month low of $26.59 and a 12-month high of $45.46. The stock has a market cap of $18.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.61.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.19). Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 13.49%. The firm had revenue of $5.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 5.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Thursday, February 8th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. JMP Securities raised their target price on Synchrony Financial from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.72.

Synchrony Financial Company Profile

Synchrony Financial, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer financial services company in the United States. It provides credit products, such as credit cards, commercial credit products, and consumer installment loans. The company also offers private label credit cards, dual co-brand and general purpose credit cards, short- and long-term installment loans, and consumer banking products; and deposit products, including certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, money market accounts, and savings accounts, and sweep and affinity deposits, as well as accepts deposits through third-party securities brokerage firms.